What is Strength?
by petpermint
Summary: One shot, set after Chapter 291. Behind the smirks of a certain blonde Sabertooth member, lies something more pure and honest. Thinking that he could hide it forever, he continues putting on that mask. But what happens after he sees the blond beauty from Fairy Tail being gravely injured by Minerva? Will all be revealed?


**My first one shot, set after chapter 291 when Lucy gets super injured and this just popped into my head. Another Sticy fic.**

**Please Enjoy!**

* * *

"LUCY!" Natsu and the rest of the fairies from Fairy Tail shouted as the blonde celestial mage hung limply outside the ball of circle.

"Call the medics!" the referee ordered.

Simply said, the whole stadium was in chaos. Minerva smirked and cackled loudly for everyone to hear. This was the power of Sabertooth – the true power of Sabertooth. From my peripheral vision, I could see Jiemma looking on with a proud smile on his face. The master tilted his head a little and spotted Rogue averting his eyes from the battered body of that Fairy Tail mage. Upon this sight, his brows furrowed slightly. I hurriedly started cheering for Minerva and put on that infamous smirk of mine. Jiemma was already mad at me for losing to Fairy Tail at that competition, and I cannot have him being mad at me again.

Knowing that her opponent did not have any chance of recovery, Minerva dropped the celestial mage onto the ground like a rag doll. While cheering for my guild mate, I could see the dark smile on her face. This was why Jiemma adored her so much and why she was considered to be the strongest in Sabertooth. I felt the glares of the Fairy Tail members upon our guild and a burning one from a certain fire dragon slayer, in particular, that was directed at me. Natsu Dragneel. I wonder how much he hates me now that his best friend has been gravely injured. The best friend of Natsu Dragneel – Lucy Heartfilia.

Lucy Heartfilia.

The name of this blondie never really stood out to me. Until now, that is. I remembered the first time I saw her. I was bragging about how I had slayed my parent dragon to Natsu, the mage I had idolized seven years ago, until he disappeared, along with the other strong people of the guild. His disappearance caused me to lose hope in dragon slayers and the purpose of my magic. To clear all these doubts, I was determined. Determined to hunt down dragons and slay them. How ironic that the very first and last dragon which I would slay would be my own parent. I did not feel particularly proud about it; neither did I feel depressed over it, but even so, I boasted about it to Natsu. I was only interested in Natsu's reaction, but from time to time, I could feel another's gaze on me. Yet, whenever I shifted my eyes to look for owner of that pair of eyes, I would find the aversion of a certain pair of brown orbs belonging to Lucy Heartfilia. I never understood why she watched me so closely.

Until our second meeting.

Our second meeting was when the first day of the tournament had ended. I didn't even notice her until she called me, much to my surprise.

"Hey! Sting-kun! STING-KUN!" she shouted, breaking my chain of thoughts.

"What do you want?" I snarled, not particularly pleased to be speaking to a Fairy.

"Nah, just heading somewhere and you seemed lonely."

I snickered, "You do realize that you are alone too, right?"

The charming smile of the girl in front of me faltered and I panicked for a moment. Have I said something wrong? As if nothing was wrong, she looked up again and plastered the grin over her face. This time, it looked force.

"I just needed to get a breather. Oh well, nice meeting you! I'll let you do your own things now!"

I nodded, feeling a little dumbfounded. I was shocked mostly because I thought that she hated me, but hearing her farewells, I thought otherwise.

As she walked away, there was a strong urge in me to follow her, but I resisted it. As I walked further, I caught sight of a group of punks, just a little younger than me.

I was about to ignore them when I heard one of theme whispering, "Hey, isn't that the mage from Fairy Tail today? The one who lost to the Raven Tail?"

"Oh, that pathetic little mage? It looks like it, why?"

"Let's have some fun with her!"

"Sounds great, we were looking for something to do anyway!"

My ears perked up and I swirled back to see the smug grins on the three punks who were just whispering to each other. I decided to observe a while more before deciding if my help was needed.

"Hey blondie," the guy with the red Mohawk licked his lips.

"Nice body you got there," his friend with the shaved head winked.

"W-what do you want from me?" Lucy stuttered, one of her hands going to her belt.

"It's dark, and you are alone, and since we were bored, we decided to have a little fun," the last of the group said suggestively.

Unable to withstand it any longer, I took a step out of the shadows and warned, "You better get away from her."

The three punks squinted, unable to see my face in the dark, and then smirked, "What are you going to do about it?"

"**XXX **_RYU NO HOKO_!" I opened his mouth to attack them, purposely missing them by a millimeter.

The three faces turned white and they slumped down, horrified by their near-death experience, while I stormed towards the stunned celestial mage and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the park. It was only until we have reached the park that I realized that I had such a tight grip on her wrist that it had left a red mark on it. I dropped her arm immediately and looked away sheepishly.

"Sorry," I muttered.

I cringed, realizing how out of character I was. If the master was to know how I was behaving right now, he would have expelled me out of the guild. Thankfully, Minerva was busy right now, and in her place was Yukino, or it would have spelt 'double trouble'.

I was still deep in thought when suddenly I was smacked in the head.

"Ouch! What the hell?" I yelped in pain. "What was that for? In case you have forgotten, I just saved your life back there!"

"Hmmph!" Lucy snorted, "As if I needed your help! I could have dealt with those jerks myself!"

"Like you would be able to handle them yourself! They targeted you precisely because they thought you were weak!"

Lucy's eyes widened and I saw her eyes tearing up. I slammed my hands over my mouth then to my head.

"Sor-" I started, but was stopped by her hand, which was held in front of my face.

"No, don't say it. I have got enough pity as it is on one day. At least someone managed to tell me the truth to my face."

"That's not true!" I argued.

"Then tell me, what is the truth? Is it not true that the group of idiots eyed me because they knew I was weak?"

"Y-yes, but they _thought_ that you were weak."

"And why did they think that way? Wasn't it because of the match I lost today?"

"Hold on a minute," I put my hand over her mouth to shut her up. "When someone is more powerful than you, it doesn't mean that you are weak!"

I saw the determination in her eyes flickering for a split second before I felt a kick in my shin.

"What the fu-?" I cursed and started hoping on one foot.

"You deserved it. I couldn't breathe with your smelly hand over my mouth _and_ my nose!" she scowled, cutely, if I might add.

"Anyway, did you understand what I just said?" I glared at her, not really forgiving her for hurting me, yet.

"I'm no idiot, of course I understood. Just one thing, though. Since you said that, why do you want to keep proving that you are stronger than Natsu?"

I kept quiet, not knowing how to answer her question.

Finally, I flicked her nose, "That's none of your business. Back to the main topic: Stop. Saying. You. Are. Weak. Okay?"

She rubbed her nose in annoyance, "What has it got to do with you?"

I shrugged, "I like celestial mages, that's all. Plus, I don't think you are weak."

A pinkish tint filled her cheeks as she looked away. Even though it was rather dark, I could still see that colour beneath the lamp post we were seated under.

"Thanks, that compliment was one of the best birthday presents I have received so far," she muttered, only loud enough for me to hear with my keen senses.

"It's your birthday?" I exclaimed a little too loudly.

"Yes, what of it?" she snapped. "Let's not make such a big deal out of it, alright?"

"And you are not in your guild celebrating, because?"

"I told you, I needed a breather. I couldn't handle a celebration on a day like this."

"Did they forget?" I smirked.

"I said, NO!" she shouted in exasperation. "How could I celebrate when I just disgraced my guild's name?"

I put back my serious face. There was the talk about her being 'weak' again.

I sighed, but before I could say anything else, she gave me a side glance, "If you are really that concerned about me not having a birthday celebration, there's nothing to worry about. I told the guild that they could celebrate it after we have won first place at the tournament."

I gave her a smug smile, "So, am I invited to the party? And I'm ignoring the comment about the first place because you and I know that Saber tooth will get that spot."

She stuck out her tongue at me, "Depends on my mood, but I will try to reserve an invitation for you and your buddy. That's if you guys dare to even take a step into our guild. Anyway, I have to go back to the guild now. It was nice talking to you. I am starting to think that my birthday wasn't so depressing after all."

I nodded and gave her my most charming smile.

Unexpectedly, she snapped her fingers, "No wonder it felt weird that day!"

I raised my brows and looked at her with confusion.

"Why are you unhappy?" She asked with a straight face.

"What are you talking about?"

"The smile that you gave Natsu when you were bragging about how you slayed your dragon seemed to be missing a sparkle. Why?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Heartfilia. Not everybody can carry a sparkling smile 24/7 a day like you."

Lucy rolled her eyes, and continued, "It doesn't look like the smile of someone knowing that he is stronger than his rival."

I did not believe it. She could saw through me with just one look. The feelings that I, only I, myself, knew of.

"Oh well, I don't know if we are counted as friends, but if there's anything troubling you, you can always talk to me, or maybe Natsu, if he is still not angry at you. Bye, got to go!" Lucy waved her hand.

I was still frozen in place when she waved goodbye. Realizing that I might not get any alone time with her anymore, I ran up to her and pulled her by her wrist. The other hand went around her waist. The hand that was initially holding onto her wrist went to her face. I stroked her cheeks, which then flared red and grabbed hold of her face by her chin. I felt her both hands on my chest, trying to push me away from her.

"Happy birthday," I blew into her ears gently. Her blonde hair floated gently behind her ears.

Then, I tilted her heads sideways, and slight upwards, and gave her a quick peck on the cheeks.

As quickly as I had grabbed hold of her in my arms, I released her and took a step back. I put on my signature smirk, "Your birthday present. Enjoy the rest of your day."

With that, I walked away from her, with my hands behind my head, hoping that she could not see the pink colour creeping towards my cheeks and ears.

That was the second time I met her.

Lucy Heartfilia.

It was the middle of the night as I stood outside the infirmary, hiding in the shadows. I could see her guild mates pacing outside the ward. Even though the Fairy Tail master had already chased most of them away, there were still many of them here, and I could name a few. Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, that air dragon slayer, Mirajane Strauss and her siblings, and even Gajeel Redfox. I could not recognize the rest.

The moment the doctor walked out, he was engulfed by the swarm of the worried Fairies. Even with my good hearing, I was unable to hear what was being said. I continued watching as some of them reluctantly went home expressionlessly, while Lucy's group members rushed into the room to see her, not forgetting Makarov.

"Why don't you ask someone how she is?" a voice spoke out.

"Are you insane? Not only will they start attacking me, so will Jiemma-sama!" I shouted softly.

"How long more are we going to be controlled by him, the person we call our master? Is this what a guild is supposed to be? If one of us were to be gravely injured, will our guild members wait outside the room like the scene you have just witnessed, or will they cheer for us to be exiled from our own guild?"

I kept quiet, knowing the answers to all the questions Rogue had just asked.

"What is strength, Sting? For what reason, are we pursuing it? Haven't we proven our worth?"

"Shut your preachings," I snapped.

"I hope you know what to do."

I pursed my lips and spied on the room Lucy Heartfilia was in. When I saw everyone exiting the room, I waited for a while more before entering. The moment I closed the door, I saw the patient shuffling in her bed.

"How are you?" I asked softly, wincing at the sight of her overly bruised face and body.

She tried to push herself up, but I stopped her.

She tried chuckling, but stopped because of the pain. Instead, she put on her glimmering smile and replied, "Not dead yet. Is Minerva-san pissed that I'm not dead yet?"

I looked down apologetically, "S-she – I'm sorry." Not knowing what else to say.

"What's there to be sorry of? I spotted your fake smile in the stands before I lost my consciousness. When your guild was cheering because of your win, remember?" She whispered slowly and gently.

Before I could say anything else, the door flew open.

Natsu had fireballs in both hands and was baring his fangs towards me, "What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"Are you here to see if Lucy is still alive? Well, sorry to disappoint you! She still is! Now get out of here and tell this to your master: Fairy Tail will never let you off for what you have done to our nakama. Your guild will pay!" He continued with a growl.

As reckless as I had heard he was, he threw the fireballs towards me. I dodged one of them and saw the other heading towards Lucy's bed.

"Lucy!" I dived in front of the fireball, which landed squarely on my chest.

I coughed in pain, and felt Lucy struggling to get out of her bed. She almost fell onto the ground, if not for Natsu's quick reflexes, she would have been even more injured.

After putting her onto the bed gently, Natsu frowned, "You threw yourself to protect Lucy, why?"

"Wouldn't you have done the same?"

"Yes, but it's only right – she's my nakama."

I paused, not knowing what else to say.

"Please, Natsu-san, please listen to us," my friend popped into the room, interrupting our conversation.

"St-Sting isn't a bad person. I can vouch for that, even though you might not trust me. Indeed, we did slay our dragons, but that was because we were tricked by Jiemma-sama. Our greatest mistake was to join Saber tooth. Ever since we joined his guild, we have been trapped in Jiemma-sama's clutches. Strength had to be our main priority, even though we didn't want it to be. We wanted to belong to a guild similar to yours, where everybody cares about every member."

Rogue practically listed out all the insecurities I ever had, since joining Saber tooth. He knew too. He knew what I have been feeling for the past years, and to think that I always thought I had hidden my feelings well. Having my own feelings being revealed like that, I finally understood what was important to me – it wasn't strength, it was finding a place where I would belong. Shocking even myself, I burst into tears and slumped down onto my knees, using one arm to try and support myself on Lucy's hospital bed.

I felt a pat on my head, and looked up.

Lucy was giving out a warm smile, her battered up face did not destroy that beauty she held within, and she asked, "How would you like to join Fairy Tail?"

Natsu's jaws dropped upon hearing Lucy's invitation.

I hesitated, "What about Jiemma-sama? He will never let us go."

This time, to my surprise, it was Natsu who answered with a determined grin on his face, "You have Fairy Tail behind you! Besides, we owe them a payback for what they did to Lucy!"

I wiped my tears and a smile slowly spread over my face as I nodded my head.

Knowing that I have the chance to escape from Jiemma's control, I felt myself returning to my original self.

I put on an arrogant smirk and faced Lucy, "The first thing I would do when I become a Fairy Tail member is to woo you!"

"WHAT?" Natsu cried.

_-The End-_

* * *

**Hope you guys liked it! Please R&R!**

**For some reason, I am always thinking about the good points of Sting Eucliffe no matter how much of an ass he is in the manga. Oh well, that just means more Sticy stories! I'm a crazy Nalu fan though, I'm desperate for more Nalu moments! _**

**I will update DEBT soon! So... till next time! ^_^**


End file.
